Radiation is currently available from several sources. Alpha, gamma, X ray and neutron generators are commercially available. Fission nuclear reactors are well known.
Much work is presently being done in fusion reaction achieving ignition and burn of fusion fuel such as, for example, deuterium-tritium in pellet form. While there are a number of different approaches to this problem, one of them includes the utilization of a source of energy from a laser and particular pellet configurations which will make it possible to achieve ignition and burn in a reaction chamber. Patents which illustrate generally the apparatus which can be used in this type of system are:
Whittlesey U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,446 -- Apr. 16, 1968 PA1 Daiber U.S. Pat.No. 3,489,645 -- Jan. 13, 1970 PA1 Hedstrom U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,992 -- Oct. 2, 1973
An article in Laser focus, September 1975, pages 39 to 42 is a public acknowledgement setting forth evidence that fusion works to produce neutrons by means of thermonuclear reaction. Fuel pellets been ignited with laser energy to produce high density neutron radiation and alpha radiation at both KMS Fusion, Inc. and the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.
It has been proposed to use energy from thermonuclear reactions for the dissociation of water to hydrogen and oxygen in one step. This is described in a copending application of Theodor Teichmann, Ser. No. 414,369, filed Nov 9, 1973 and also in the application of Gomberg and Teitel, Ser. No. 414,370, filed Nov. 9, 1973. The one-step process involves radiation dissociation caused by neutrons, alpha, or x radiation, involves exposing the water as a target molecule directly to radiation and heat from a fusion of fission source to produce the desired product. The use of radiation from thermonuclear fusion reactions has a significant advantage over the use of radiation from fission in such processes.
When te fission process is used as the radiation source, materials must be exposed directly to the fission fragments in order to obtain effective energy transfer and this also requires that the material be exposed to uranium or plutonium fuel directly. In some instances, the use of uranium dust to be mixed with the reactants is recommended. (See Advances in Nuclear Science & Technology, Vol. 1, Edited by Henley and Kouts, Academic Press, 1962, P. 298.) The result is a rather severe contamination of the products by radioactive fission fragments and by the fuel particles themselves. Direct exposure is necessary since about 80 percent of the fission energy is contained in the fission fragments.
In thermonuclear fusion of D-T, 80 percent of the energy is released as fast neutrons and the remaining 20 percent of the energy is released as alpha and X rays. In the fusion reaction, the material to be processed may be exposed directly in the central reaction chamber to the radiation or may be exposed while being confined in a separate container because the high energy neutrons and heat may be passed out of the central reaction chamber. The latter condition is particularly appropriate for the high density neutron exposure from the fusion reaction since the neutrons have an effective penetration characteristic.
Thus, the use of fusion devices, with the resulting high energy neutrons, as well as alpha and X rays, allows for efficient interaction of the radiation with the reactants while limiting radioactivity problems to those caused by neutron activation. This difference alone is extremely significant in considering the use of thermonuclear reactors for chemonuclear processing.